Veterans cry ‘cree’ on clash

While maintaining a love for the culture, reggae and dancehall heavyweights are cautioning against the growing lyrical battleground in the dancehall space at the start of the year.

The release of Rvssian's Dutty Money Riddim in January has sparked a wave of lyrical showdowns, with artistes not only showcasing their lyrical prowess but also targeting their peers. Initially ignited by verbal jabs between Jada Kingdom and Steflon Don, the lyrical clashes have now shifted attention to Teejay and Valiant, who are currently engaged in a punchline scrimmage. Teejay and Valiant last night removed the diss tracks from their respective Instagram accounts, seemingly bringing an end to the ugly war of words.

However, several veteran dancehall artistes have been been urging fellow entertainers to resist the temptation to clash each other. Sean Paul, for example, said clashes by entertainers are unnecessary.

"Sound clashing is a foundational thing for our music for sure, but when artistes clash, to me it leaves a lot of space for contempt," the Gimme the Light hitmaker told THE STAR.

The Grammy-nominated entertainer, who is known for his infectious hooks and energetic dancehall beats, said when artistes clash it "leaves the crowd split in half", which ultimately weakens the music. He noted that clashes have, in the past, transcended the lyrical realm and have become physically violent.

"I've lost friends due to violence, I've witnessed violence because of clashes. The same lyrical clashes, I've seen people being violent with each other about it," the Get Busy deejay said.

Similarly, Yellowman, the undisputed king of dancehall, wished for an end to the clashes.

"I'm not a fan of clash because I think it divides people," he said.

"I don't like it. They need to get themselves together and know that music is music and music lives forever. So they're going to leave it here, so they have to do their best," he said.

Another veteran deejay Anthony B said clashes, especially those involving women, leaves a bad taste in his mouth.

"Maybe this young generation doesn't understand, but I am from the elder generation. None of us grew up in a place in Jamaica where three man sidung and see two woman fight. It can't happen. That's not how we grew up. ... We nuh grow up come see two woman fight and man cheer them on," Anthony B said.

"And with the man (dem) now weh a clash, mi nuh too into it because my thing is that it trick di people dem too much time. None of these artistes are going on stage to iron out their differences, so for me it's like girls tracing each other. It's not like you can go to a concert and say 'alright we're gonna watch these two artistes and get some entertainment from it'. They're not facing each other on stage. If you're gonna face each other then go for it because it's a competitive battle, but my part is that we don't want it to be physical," the Damage singer said.

The veteran artiste pointed to the ill-fated clash at Sting on Boxing Day between dancehall artistes Fully Bad and Kyodi that turned into a brawl when Honormosity entered the fray and everything went awry.

"That's not just bad for us, it's bad for the youths, it's bad for the culture and it's bad for the outlook of Jamaica," Anthony B said of the brawl that ended with Fully Bad and Honormosity being charged with disorderly conduct.